The Haunting Change
by FunahoMisaki
Summary: What if things changed during Season 2? Instead of releasing Phobos to try and get the Heart of Meriddean back from Nerissa...Nerissa chose a different way of trying to get the heart from Will. Now Will has to live with the consequences and the Haunting Changes that they bring. AU OOC Rated T for death, a few curses, and just all around darkness with maybe some morbid humor.
1. Chapter 1

**MEGA W.I.T.C.H. AU**

 **By: FunahoMisaki**

 **(A/N: I own nothing and what if Nerissa challenged Will to a one on one sword fighting match that no one could interfere with…they can't use their powers…they have to be in civilian form…and…they fight to the death. AU OOC some femslash some bashing)**

"What the? What happened?" Halinor asked breaking free from her enthrallment all of a sudden and looking around confused. The last thing she remembered was the Mage trapping her in some dark magic... The first thing she noticed was Kadma, Cassidy (much to her disbelief since the girl had been _dead_ last she checked), and _two_ Yan-lins nearby along with a confused Queen Elyon. The second thing she noticed was that she was on Kandrakar standing near four of the five new guardians and the newly freed Council members who were all staring at something in wide eyed horror and shock. Turning to look at what they were looking at, Halinor's eyes widened and she gasped in shock at the sight that met her eyes.

"Will!" Halinor screamed, running towards the teen that was sitting there in apparent shock as a woman stood over her. No…the woman was stooped over her. Stooped and breathing raggedly as a pool of blood began to form underneath the two females.

"Looks…like you win…but now…I'll forever…haunt…you and your…memory…my…spirit…will be locked…inside of you…forever…watching…forever guiding…" The older woman said weakly, coughing as she whispered in the young red head's ear. The woman coughed again, coughing up some blood which splattered onto the young girls cheek as her breathing became even more ragged.

"My son… cannot …use my…powers…you can…though…you…are the…closest…I will…ever…have…to a…daughter…you are…now my…heiress… you are….now the… true… Keeper… of the… Heart… use it… well… my… new… child…Wil-" The woman said her voice fading on the last word as she slumped forward, her blood staining the clothes of the red head she was slumped over. The young girl didn't move, she didn't blink. Hell it looked like she wasn't even _breathing_ as she merely stared wide eyed in shock and horror at nothing over the dead womans body. She was in shock as Halinor rushed towards her as fast as the elderly womans legs could carry her without tripping over her council robe.

"I-I didn't mean to." Will said staring at the woman slumped over her in numb shock and horror. Finally talking and it seemed to break everyone else out of their shock as well. Halinor paused for a minute, nearly tumbling over at the sudden loss of momentum, after hearing the girl speak before she continued over to the girls side at a fast walk.

"What happened?!" Cassidy demanded, spinning around to glare at the Oracle who was staring at Will wide eyed. Cassidy and the others were slightly taken aback at his expression, it was the only thing other than slight concern, serenity, and thoughtfulness that they have ever seen on his face.

"Nerissa, she demanded a one on one fight to the death with Will. No powers, no transforming, just normal forms and swords. If Will didn't agree to the fight…Nerissa would have used you four to kill the other Guardians and Will's mother. W-Will just won." Alfor said instead, staring at Will as the other Guardians seemed to be slowly leaving their shocked states. They were in shock as much as Will herself it seemed…well…that was until Hay-lin and Taranee ran over to the side of the hall and lost their lunches over the edge of the castle.

"Child look at me!" Halinor said shaking Will's shoulder slightly and causing Will to look up at her, eyes wide and filled with tears that didn't seem to fall.

"I-I didn't mean to." Will said again, causing Halinor to shush her gently.

"I know you didn't, child. You didn't have a choice." Halinor said softly, kneeling down to be on eye level with Will. Thanks to her telepathy still going full force she had heard what Alfor had told Cassidy quite clearly.

"It is a shame that one as young as you had to face such a trial, Will. You are too young to have had to fight such a monster like the one Nerissa had become." Kadma said gently as she walked over, placing a calming hand on Will's shoulder.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I know she was your friend." Will began to ramble as Kadma gently moved Nerissa's body off of the teenager. The girl was now able to get up since the dead woman's weight was off of her…but she seemed too shocked to move…too shocked to do anything more than ramble.

"Shh it's okay child. I know you didn't mean to. She hasn't been my friend ever since Cassidy's death." Halinor tried to sooth the teenager, gently reaching forward and holding the girl close. This merely made Will break down in loud wails and sobs as she continuously apologized. Everyone else could only stare as Kadma took the sword from Will's now limp grasp and placed it to the side before taking Will's discarded jacket off of the floor nearby and placing it over Nerissa's face and head.

Everyone stared as Halinor continued to gently sooth the sobbing and apologizing red head until she fell into a light fitful sleep, the emotional toil finally taking its toll on the young girl. Halinor looked up and looked into Kadma's eyes knowingly even as she continued to try and gently sooth Will and carded her fingers through the young girls short red hair to try and bring her some peace in her sleep.

They both knew that no matter what Halinor had whispered into Will's ear, no matter how true they both wished her words were, that it was impossible.

It was impossible for anything to ever be the same again, for anyone much less for the poor young girl in Halinors arms and her four friends. It was likely that the four other girls wouldn't be able to get the thought of their friend being a killer out of their minds for quite a while…the older ones wouldn't be able to get Will's blood covered form and loud wails and sobs out of their minds no matter how hard they tried for years to come.

It was especially impossible for anything to be even remotely close to normal for the poor _child_ that had been forced to either become a murderer or be murdered.


	2. Chapter 2

**MEGA W.I.T.C.H. AU**

 **By: FunahoMisaki**

 **(A/N: I own nothing and read last chapter)**

 **(A/N: Just so you're aware**

"Hey what's up?" – Normal talking

" _You okay?"_ – Telepathy or thoughts

 **"** _ **I warned you**."_ – Surprise.

 **Okay Authors Note over)**

"Ms. Vandom are you alright?" Knickerbocker asked looking worried when she saw Will at school a few days later. The girl looked like she hadn't slept in days, her skin seemed clammy, and she was walking as if she had the weight of the world on her shoulder (oh if only she knew). Will looked up and Knickerbocker backed up a step at the sight of the girls eyes.

Her normally bright and cheerful or serious if not wary eyes were now dull and she seemed haunted by something. Haunted by something she had seen that she could never un-see or something that only she could see perhaps.

"…" Will didn't answer. She just stared at Knickerbocker with those too dull too _old_ eyes and then turned away to go to her classroom. Stopping in the hallway just a few feet short of the classroom door however, Will's eyes widened a bit as she darted to the bathroom almost as fast as Hay-lin could fly.

"H…How?" Will asked her voice hoarse and scratchy and she sounded over all terrible as she stared at the person in front of her. The younger form of the woman she had murdered.

The mere thought of what she had done had Will rushing to the nearest stall and heaving up her breakfast, what little she ate of it, and anything else up to and including pure air. Will shivered when she felt a touch on her back, a softy almost not there touch.

The touch of the ghost haunting her.

 **" _I told you didn't I? I said I'd always be here watching…guiding."_** Nerissa whispered into her ear it seemed like, her breath soft as the wind and not as…evil…as she had sounded before back when she was… Will threw up again thinking about it.

 **" _Deep slow breaths child. Keep your stomach down_. _"_ **Nerissa advised her voice just as soft as before as she rubbed circles on the girls back, her see through hand feeling very very light but definitely there to the red haired girl.

"This is punishment isn't it? The punishment for ending your life." Will asked her voice hoarse as she tried to keep down more bile, making Nerissa shake her head in the negative.

 **" _No. This is me trying to guide you. The others have former guardians to learn from if they so choose. You should as well."_** Nerissa said moving to brush Will's hair out of her eyes, Will's eyes dully following her see through hands movement as the hair was pushed back behind her ear.

"The others…" Will repeated slowly a thought coming to her. Was she hallucinating? Was this all in her mind? Some twisted form of PTSD or Survivors Guilt like Halinor had warned her about?

 **" _They won't be able to see me. I'm here solely to guide_ you _. Not them. They have the other Formers. No one can see me except for you."_** Nerissa said shaking her head and making Will flinch a bit. Was it all a hallucination? A nightmare? If so please let her wake up from this one.

"Will are you in here?" A familiar voice called as someone walked into the girls bathroom, making Will's head snap up.

 _ **"Cassidy."**_ Nerissa breathed out recognizing the voice of the woman that _she_ had killed and revived.

"Cassidy?" Will asked causing the girl to appear at the stall-way door and look at Will.

"Hey. I got worried when Taranee sent a message of you missing History class. I'm not going to ask if you're okay. It's obvious you aren't, but do you feel up to staying here at school or do you want me to take you home?" Cassidy asked her voice gentle as she kneeled down and put a much more solid, much warmer, hand on Will's back.

Home? As in Kandrakar? Will hazily thought as she reached up to flush the toilet. The place where she…

"No not there I meant your mom's apartment." Cassidy said having heard Will's thoughts and quickly heading them off. The poor girl was nearly broadcasting her thoughts and even with the minor telepathic link the older guardians had with the younger ones, Cassidy wouldn't be surprised in the least if Kadma or Yan-lin had heard the girls thoughts as well. Halinor obviously did sense Cassidy could feel a familiar warm presence entering her mind softly.

" _Don't drain your life force Hallie. I'll take care of her and later on I'll bring her to Kandrakar so you can check on her yourself."_ Cassidy thought to her friend who gave the mental equivalent of a nod.

" _Thank you and I'll hold you to that Cass."_ Halinor 'spoke' softly in Cassidy's mind before she slithered out of the girls head, leaving their basic connection open just in case but not actively listening in.

Apartment? Oh with her mom. No. She didn't want to go there right now, not after the hour long lecture she had gotten last night for being gone the whole weekend without telling anyone except her friends anything. Not after she fell asleep only for the nightmare to start. If the choice was between going to class or going to the apartment…

"Get me something cool to drink to wash out the taste and I'll be fine." Will croaked out after a minute of just leaning into Cassidy's soothing warm presence. The woman may have been twenty two when she died but she looked more like a teenager, so she was starting school with them within the next week but for now she was just getting 'familiarized' with the school.

In reality she was just making sure Will was okay, she knew how hard it was to try and go back to normal after killing someone, even in self-defense. The new Guardians weren't blooded yet, not the way the old ones had been. By the time the C.H.Y.K.N. generation were twenty two they had all killed at least three people in their missions to save the universe. Some people you just couldn't take alive, either because of the circumstances or because of their own pride.

From what Halinor had told her, Cassidy figured that the new guardians didn't know that yet, or they _didn't_ until Nerissa came around. Now she was left wondering how they were going to react, it was obvious that Will was definitely still feeling her first kill. She always would, Cassidy remembered her first kill vividly along with the three kills right after it. She knew Halinor could vividly recall _all_ of her kills, Kadma could recall the ones she had seen, and Yan-lin could recall at least five of her own as well.

"Lucky for you I'm a water guardian. Open up." Cassidy said moving to use her powers and making Will shake her head in the negative.

 ** _"Cassidy you aren't a guardian anymore."_** Nerissa tried to remind her friend only to deflate slightly when she remembered that only Will could hear her.

"Using your powers will drain your life force." Will reminded the other red head who blinked before nodding and instead pulling out a bottle of water from her book bag.

"Sorry still getting used to…well…being alive again and _not_ being a guardian." Cassidy said grinning sheepishly as she offered the water to Will who took it and swallowed it all down in one long gulp.

"Thanks." Will said beginning to stand up, with Cassidy supporting her on one side and Nerissa supporting her on the other.

"Anytime. Come on. Let's get you to class…or…rather lunch." Cassidy said grinning slightly as she stood by Will's side, keeping an eye on the girl in case she needed a hand or someone to catch her. Will had been blacking out recently or rather fainting. They weren't sure if it was her mind trying to cope with what she had done or what but the entire Council and the older Ex-Guardians were all worried about the young leader.

"Will? Are you okay?" Irma asked immediately after she saw her leader in the lunch room, not hesitating in the slightest as she walked over to check on the red head of their group who was at their usual table leaning against Cassidy slightly.

"Fine." Will said without even thinking about it, earning a snort from Irma and Taranee.

"Try that with someone who'll believe it. Here. I took some spare notes in History Class. You can study over it while I go grab you some lunch." Taranee said setting a notebook in front of Will before turning and walking towards the Lunch Line.

"Come on scooch over and let me see. I was sleeping and didn't take notes, besides Tara jots down everything so I might have missed something important." Irma said grinning as she sat down on Will's left side, Cassidy being on Will's right.

"Huh they're doing a class on the history of the LGBT community? Hallie would love that." Cassidy said glancing at the notes as well just in case it was anything she would need to know about.

 _ **"What really? Oh that's priceless! I can't believe it. Hallie is going to be over the moon."**_ Nerissa said looking at the notes over Will's shoulder and nearly busting a gut laughing.

"Hey did Yannie ever tell you about the time where we had to go find Hallie cause she was kidnapped during a mission and when we found her she had converted over a dozen Lurden's into being hippies?" Cassidy asked looking at Will and making Irma look at her surprised while Cornelia and Hay-lin hesitantly sat down across from Will.

"Here you go Will. What are we talking about?" Taranee asked setting down her tray beside Cassidy, before moving the notebook and setting Will's tray in front of her.

"Halinor turned some Lurdens into hippies when they kidnapped her." Irma reported with a small grin making Taranee blink before looking at them in disbelief.

"Are you serious?" Taranee asked looking from Irma to Cassidy who quirked a grin and nodded her head rapidly.

"I got pictures of it too. A whole scrap book of our teams shenanigans when we were your age and a bit older, it's in my room at my mom's place. You should have seen the look on Kadma's face when she went charging in to save Halinor only to see her showing the Lurdens how to make flower crowns." Cassidy said making Nerissa bust out laughing from behind Will.

 ** _"I remember that! Halinor talked Kadma into growing some more flowers for them to make more crowns and I thought Cass was going to pee herself laughing."_** Nerissa said through her laughter while Will very carefully fought not to acknowledge the woman haunting her. Whether she was an illusion or real, and Will had a feeling she was very _very_ real, Will didn't want to make her friends think she was crazy for talking to a dead woman.

"Halinor was a hippie?" Taranee asked while Irma was laughing on Will's other side. They never would have suspected calm wise Halinor of the Council of being a hippie in her youth.

"Oh I wouldn't be surprised if she still is. See her parents were very devout Catholics and back in those times everyone thought it was weird that three normal white girls like me, Hallie and Nerissa were friends with non-whites like Kaddie and Yannie. Of course my family was Irish so I got some weird looks too but none of us let that bother us, we were still friends. Kaddie and Hallie had been friends since before the whole…you know…guardian thing, and her parents didn't like that. Kaddie's parents thought it was strange but they were glad she was making friends with others her own age. Hallie first joined the hippie craze when we were teenagers, about fifteen or sixteen I think, and we all thought it was just to get back at her parents." Cassidy began regaling the girls with the story of Halinor the Hippie.

 _ **"That might be how it started with her but by the time we were twenty that's not how it was."**_ Nerissa broke in making Will's eyes dart to her for a second before turning back to Cassidy who was poking Will into eating some of the spaghetti on her plate, although Will didn't have much of an appetite at the moment.

"By the time we were in our twenties and we were in college though it had changed a bit. She didn't seem to be doing it to get back at her parents anymore. She seemed to be genuinely into the hippie craze. I have a picture of her wearing a tye dyed dress to school one day, and I swear she got sent out of almost every class for wearing it of course the rest of us followed her out. Hippie or no Hippie Hallie was and still is our friend and sister, we'd all, those of us left and loyal that is, stand by her no matter what." Cassidy said her eyes flashing briefly to Cornelia and Hay-Lin who were avoiding Will ever since her battle with Nerissa. They seemed scared and shocked about what the red head had done even though they all knew it was self-defense and in defense of their families.

"But see her parents kept trying to break her of the Hippie craze and set her up with nice respectable catholic young men of…decent background. Yeah her parents were those stuck up rich snob types, I'm actually pretty amazed that Hallie was never as snobby as they were…but anyways. They kept trying to set Hallie up and if the other four of us didn't run the possible 'suitors' off then I guarantee you Hallie did. Most of them were misogynist or racist snobs so…well none of us said a word about it when she _literally_ threw fireballs at one boy who was being an ass to Kaddie and Yannie because of their ethnicity." Cassidy said snickering and making Nerissa snort in amusement.

 _ **"Good thing that one had a nasty habit of drinking alcohol until he passed out or else we would have been in a heap of trouble."**_ Nerissa said dryly and making Will's lip twitch upwards just a little bit as she ate a tiny bit more of her spaghetti at a look from Cassidy and Nerissa both.

"But anyways…eventually her parents got so fed up that they exploded on Hallie one night when we were all eating and studying at her place. They demanded to know why she insisted on being so caught up in the 'Hippie phase' as they called it and why she refused such 'respectable young men'. Of course we were all ready to have Hallie's back in case her parents got violent with her and we were all standing up in between her bedroom door and her bed where she and Yannie had been going over their Math books. Kaddie looked ready to deck both of her parents and bury them in the ground if they took one more step towards Hallie." Cassidy said snickering just a bit as she ate some of her pizza, recalling that night as if it were yesterday.

 ** _"I thought Kat was going to hit them with a tree."_** Nerissa piped up helpfully as she prodded Will into eating some more with a there but not there touch to her hand that was holding the fork.

"But Hallie…she just calmly marked her page in the math book, closed it, and stood up. She walked towards them until she stood in front of the rest of us, and looked them dead in the eye and then sweet shy little Hallie told them in no uncertain terms that, and I am quoting her here, 'the Hippies are the only ones who seem to allow me to let me love who I want to love instead of who I am expected to love.' Of course we were all telling her that we'd accept her no matter what and her parents demanded to know what that meant so guess what she did next." Cassidy said grinning while Nerissa was laughing like a loon behind Will.

"What?" Irma asked grinning as well and making Cassidy snicker.

"She turned to Kadma, grabbed her by her shirt and pulled her down into a kiss right there in front of her parents. Her mother fainted and her father's jaw went to the floor." Cassidy said making all of them stare at her.

"You're kidding?" Hay-lin asked staring at Cassidy who shook her head in the negative.

"Nope. Ask Yannie, Kaddie or Hallie if you don't believe me. Yannie was saying something in Chinese, I was trying to find my camera, and Nerissa was on the floor laughing her ass off. I swear the two of them were using tongue and they didn't separate for like five minutes." Cassidy said making Nerissa try and calm down a bit.

 ** _"They were using tongue and their kiss lasted closer to seven minutes."_** Nerissa corrected making Will glance at her curiously. What did Nerissa time it or something?

" ** _Nah but there were some electronics in there and the clock timed it."_** Nerissa said grinning at Will, oh didn't she tell the girl that since she was tied to Will she could hear Will's thoughts as long as she didn't use telepathy? No? Oh well the girl would figure it out eventually.

"When they finally pulled apart Kadma was grinning and had a dazed look in her eyes while Halinor smiled happily…then she caught sight of us staring and blushed so red I thought she was going to pass out. She couldn't look any of us in the eye for more than a week afterwards. Poor shy Hallie." Cassidy said snickering heavily. The story served three purposes, first it let her remember some of the 'good ol' days' as Yan-Lin called them, second it helped the W.I.T.C.H. girls learn more about their predecessors, and finally…it helped distract everyone from the whole Nerissa thing.

Will actually finished at least half of her tray of food while listening to the story. That was more than she ate all weekend long when they tried to get through to her.

The progress on making sure Will would be able to get over what she had done seemed slow…almost at a crawl really…but it was _there_ and that gave them hope. They hoped Will could pull through her guilt and other negative feelings. The Council of Kandrakar, the remaining Former Guardians, and from the looks of it Irma and Taranee would all be on Will's side to help her pull through this.

Cassidy had to let the others know that sharing stories of their past with Will seemed to distract her for at least a little while.

She didn't know that Nerissa had noticed the same thing and was going to use that to her advantage.


	3. Chapter 3

**MEGA W.I.T.C.H. AU**

 **By: FunahoMisaki**

 **(A/N: I own nothing and read last chapter)**

 **(A/N: Just so you're aware**

"Hey what's up?" – Normal talking

" _You okay?"_ – Telepathy or thoughts

" _ **I warned you."**_ – Nerissa.

 **Okay Authors Note over)**

"You sure you're okay to come to class Will? I can take the notes for Spanish if you need some more time." Taranee offered as the two of them and Cassidy were walking down the hallway towards the classroom, everyone giving Will confused or worried looks as she passed with that too _old_ air to her and look in her eyes.

"I'm fine." Will said her voice almost a monotone as if the answer was an automatic response.

"Try that again with someone who'll believe it." Taranee said dryly as she gave her friend and leader a look.

"Hey Taranee I've been meaning to ask…how come you and Irma are so…ya know understanding of what happened? Cornelia and Hay-Lin seem kinda…" Cassidy trailed off trying to think of a non-insulting word for the far away and scared attitude of the air and earth Guardians.

"My mom's a judge, she's had to pass the death sentence before even though she prefers juvie cases so she can avoid that. Irma's dad is a cop, I think you can guess how that works out. Hay-lin…she's always been kinda the optimist who thinks everyone could be saved. Cornelia…she surprised me a bit but then she's always been a bit sheltered compared to the rest of us so I guess her distance makes sense." Taranee paused for a moment as she looked straight at Will to make sure the red head understood what she was about to say.

"I know how this can affect you Will. I've seen my mom go through with the guilt of knowing what the sentence she passed would result in, I've seen Irma's dad go through it when there was a shoot-out. They both had support systems to help them…and you do to. Me and Irma are on your side all the way no matter what happens okay sis?" Taranee asked softly with a smile on her face, making Will stare at her and her eyes become misty after she stared at Taranee a moment.

 _ **"Huh she means every word of that too. Hard to find that kind of loyalty anywhere."**_ Nerissa said looking at Taranee and seeing the truth and determination in her gaze.

"Thank you fire sister." Will said swallowing heavily and smiling weakly at the dark skinned Guardian.

"Anytime Heart Sister." Taranee said placing her hand on Will's shoulder supportively.

 _ **"You have a lot of support and all of us are right there with you little one."**_ Nerissa said placing her there but not there hand on Will's other shoulder.

"You have us Formers with you as well. We've all had to go through our first ones when we were about sixteen. Even Hallie and Yannie went through it and I thought Hallie was going to _shatter_ before she found herself again. Yannie had been used to killing animals so she was a bit better off but even she wasn't completely normal after the first time. So don't worry. We're right here with you too." Cassidy said putting her hand on Will's shoulder, unknowingly overlapping Nerissa's own there but not there hand and giving a wordier version of the former Keeper's own remark.

"Let's get to class before you lovable idiots make me cry." Will said wiping her eyes quickly and turning away from the two who giggled at her.

 _ **"You sound like Hallie did when her parents kicked her out and we let her crash at our places until we all bought an apartment building for us and any future Guardians in case they needed a getaway."**_ Nerissa said with a chuckle of her own as she followed Will to the classroom.

"Come on let's see if we can suffer through Spanish together. Makes me wish I took that in college instead of French although they didn't offer language classes in high school back when I was a student." Cassidy said wincing and looking thoughtful at the end as she followed after the other two since the classrooms had been moved around a bit since her time as a student.

"Really?" Taranee asked curiously as she looked at the former Guardian of water.

 __ _ **"Yeah but Yannie was teaching us some Chinese for whenever she slipped into it by accident. We were fluent by the time we were nineteen and we all chose different languages in college."**_ Nerissa said nodding as she followed behind them, gracefully dodging anyone she would have ran into without thinking about it.

"Yeah but Yannie taught us Chinese for when she was hurt or disoriented since it was her first language. Then when we all made it to college we chose different languages to study and taught the others the one we chose. That way we could talk about the whole…you know… out in public and no one would know." Cassidy said making Will and Taranee look at each other. It would probably be a good idea for them to do that too for the same reason and so they can make plans right in front of their enemies without them ever knowing.

"Hallie learned Latin and Greek, Kaddie learned Dutch for some weird reason, Nerissa took Spanish class, and I learned French. Yannie was still trying to grasp the finer points of English so she didn't take any courses. Not to mention how suspicious everyone was of her because of… well the war and all. We all tried teaching each other our chosen languages and while Hallie was a sponge for them I only learned maybe a few words of the other languages and most of those were cuss words." Cassidy said shrugging a bit sheepishly at that. Hey she had been a young adult woman in the fifties, how else was she going to get away with cursing in public?

" _ **I swear Cass learned how to cuss in ten different languages by the time she was twenty one."**_ Nerissa said laughingly as she followed the girls into the classroom.

"Ah our new student Senorita Durano. There's a free seat by Senorita Vandom so follow her and if you need any help catching up ask Senorita Cook." The teacher, Mr. Folen, said looking at the three girls that had just walked in.

 _ **"Durano? But that is Halinor's last name."**_ Nerissa said surprised as the girls took their seats, Nerissa just kind of sitting on the desk in front of Will. That was one of the Grubber sisters deck but it seemed like both of them were out sick today.

 _"Is Durano really your last name? I thought it was McLean?"_ Taranee asked Cassidy, making Will glance over at her confused as well.

 _"Well yeah my last name is actually McLean but I went to school with Katherine, who's the principal now. It'd be strange if a girl who looked and acted just like her friend who died forty years ago appeared out of nowhere with the same first and last name as the deceased girl though."_ Cassidy thought back to Taranee, the other girls both old and new being broadcasted into the conversation so that they knew what her cover was and didn't blow it in front of someone by accident.

 _"So instead you're using a different last name to throw her off. Shouldn't you have changed your first name too in that case?"_ Taranee asked making Cassidy glance over at her, none of the girls paying attention to the teacher much.

 _"Nah I have that part covered, see Durano is Hallie's last name so as far as Kathy knows I'm Hallie's granddaughter. With my mom dying in child labor and my dad running out on her before I was born I was named and raised by my grandma. It wouldn't be farfetched for me to be named after my grandmothers dear departed friend and besides… Cassidy is actually a pretty common name for girls."_ Cassidy explained before they were all brought back to the outside world by the teacher calling for Will.

"Senorita Vandom! Do you know the answer?" Mr. Folen asked making Will jerk slightly. What was the question?

 _ **"Just repeat after me okay Will? Mi Ilamo es…"**_ Nerissa told the girl making Will glance at her for a split second before deciding to trust the ghost. What did she have left to lose?

"Mi ilamo es…" Will reported dutifully making the teacher blink but nod.

"Correct. My name is in Spanish is Mi ilamo es." Mr. Folen said making Taranee and Cassidy let out a sigh of relief while Will relaxed a bit. Nerissa really was helping her. Maybe this wouldn't be as bad as she thought it would be. Although she probably should pay more attention to the teacher and class.

 _ **"Yeah that'd be a good idea."**_ Although now she thought she might ignore the teacher just to mess with Nerissa.

 _ **"I heard that!"**_ But that might not be a good idea because then she'd be falling behind in class more than she already is and she didn't want to give her mother any more reason to lecture her.

 _ **"Hey don't pretend to ignore me!"**_ Nerissa was getting annoyed now although she was happy to see a small smile on Will's face now. The first real smile and not a sad one that the red head sported ever since the fight.

 _ **"Fine see if I help you pass Spanish."**_ Nerissa said pouting and crossing her arms over her chest as she turned away from Will.

"Will you okay?" Taranee asked waving a hand in front of Will's eyes as the bell rang, making Will blink and startle. She had been so busy thinking and listening to Nerissa that she hadn't paid any attention to the class.

"Fine. Lost in thoughts." Will said grabbing her book bag and standing up.

"Try again and about what?" Taranee asked as they headed for the door to move to the exit, Spanish being their last class of the day so they went to meet up with the others.

"Nothing important just random things." Will said averting her eyes making the two following her look at each other. She didn't have to be brought in on their mental link to know that they thought she was talking about Nerissa again. Well… it's not that they'd be wrong.

"Ms. Vandom are you… alright?" Knickerbocker asked when she caught sight of the girl walking past her, earning a confused look from the Heart wielding red head.

"I'm fine." Will said on reflex making Cassidy snort slightly.

"You sound like Kaddie." Cassidy said making Katherine look at her and pale drastically.

"Cass-Cassidy?" Knickerbocker asked her voice shocked and she looked like she had seen a ghost.

"That's my name. Cassidy Durano. You okay there ma'am?" Cassidy asked looking worriedly at the principal who swayed a little bit.

"Tara the left." Will said quickly supporting Knickerbockers right side in case the woman fainted.

 _ **"Honestly this isn't the strangest thing that Kathy has seen. Then again she didn't know that Cass was revived."**_ Nerissa said as she looked at her old classmate.

"Easy there ma'am. Geez when grams said I'd give someone a heart attack I didn't think she was being serious." Cassidy said as Taranee supported Knickerbockers other side and the two teens kept the older woman up on her feet.

"Grams said that I look a lot like her old friend, that's why I share her name. Are you going to be okay?" Cassidy asked lying but still looking genuinely worried about her old friend and classmate as the other students began to crowd around curiously.

"Your grandma?" Knickerbocker asked weakly while Cassidy gave a sheepish grin.

"Cassidy what have you done to Katherine? Honestly it's not even your first day yet!" A woman called causing the Guardians to jerk slightly while Nerissa gave a small snort when Cassidy yelped.

"Oh come on! It's not my fault I look like a replica of my namesake! I didn't expect my principal to nearly faint cause of it." Cassidy said defensively as Halinor came walking over wearing a blue and white dress.

"Easy Katherine. She looks like her yes but don't faint." Halinor said quickly walking over and helping Katherine calm down with a worried look on her face.

"Halinor? Ugh sorry about that." Knickerbocker said shaking her head and snapping out of her funk.

"It's alright Kathy. My Cassidy looks a lot like our old friend with the same name." Halinor said with a small sad smile.

"Kathy this is my granddaughter Cassidy Durano. Cassidy this is my old classmate Katherine Knickerbocker." Halinor said doing introductions without batting an eye lash.

 _ **"And to think that when we started as Guardians she couldn't lie to save her life. Honestly I swear we nearly got busted at least twenty times because of her inability to lie for like two years."**_ Nerissa said impressed at her old friends ease with lying now, even later on in their Guardian career she hadn't been much good at lying. Obviously she had gotten much better.

"Really? Congratulations Halinor and I'm sorry about that Miss Durano. You just look an awful lot like an old friend of mine that unfortunately had her life cut short too soon." Knickerbocker said making Cassidy shrug it off easily.

"Yeah so I've been told. Aunt Kadma fainted when she saw me a couple of months ago. It was hilarious when she came around saying something about how the Water Demon came back to haunt her." Cassidy said quirking a small grin and making Knickerbocker snort slightly. The other students were moving away from them now that it didn't look like someone was fainting anymore.

"That sounds like the Kadma I knew. I'm surprised she didn't get arrested for killing whoever was responsible for what happened to the Water Demon. Those two were like Ms. Lair and Ms. Hale are now. Always at each others throats but first in line to protect the other." Knickerbocker said with a chuckle while Cassidy and Halinor exchanged confused and alarmed looks.

"What makes you think it was someone's fault? From what grams said it was a skiing accident." Cassidy asked looking at Knickerbocker who snorted slightly.

"That's why. Your namesake hated skiing, she preferred swimming and wouldn't get on a pair of ski's if it would save her life." Knickerbocker said making Cassidy look surprised while Halinor smiled slightly. Only those who knew Cassidy before her death would know that she didn't like skiing at all and guess that she had been murdered.

"Kadma didn't get a chance. Cass's killer is dead I promise you that." Halinor said glancing at Will before turning to the girl and smiling warmly.

"And where did Cassidy find a hazel eyed clone?" Halinor asked smiling kindly at Will who blinked.

"Everything down to her love for swimming and her friends being protective. I nearly fainted when I saw her for the first time." Knickerbocker said making Cassidy and Will look at each other.

 _ **"**_ _ **You really do look like a clone of Cassidy."**_ Nerissa agreed as she looked at the two red heads who were standing next to each other.

"Nice to meet you young lady. My name is Halinor Durano, Cassidy's grandmother." Halinor said as if she hadn't met Will before, mainly because Knickerbocker and a few other students were nearby.

"Nice to meet you Ms. Durano. My name is Will Vandom, this is one of my friends Taranee Cook." Will went along with it without batting an eye as Taranee gave a small smile and wave.

"You sure you're a grandma? You don't look like one." Will asked being completely honest and making Nerissa bust out laughing while Cassidy snickered.

"Suck up. Grams knows she looks old." Cassidy said teasing Will and nudging her playfully in the ribs.

"I may be old but I can still take you to task." Halinor said with a smirk while Knickerbocker was snickering.

"I don't blame her for not believing it. You look 35, 40 at the most Halinor." Knickerbocker said making the blond smile and give her old friend a small hug.

"Thanks for saying so Kathy. Kadma's moving back in town at the end of the week and Linny mentioned reserving the Dragon for us one day. We can make a reunion of it. Not many of our graduating class is left after all." Halinor said smiling warmly at her old classmate.

 _ **"There's only Yan, Hali, Cass, Kathy, and Kadma left."**_ Nerissa said softly her eyes sad but understanding. She would and yet wouldn't be at that reunion but it was her own fault. She should have known that, while enhanced by the Hearts she had taken and her own Keeper durability, her body was old and frail. Of course having a sword fight would have her collapsing or straining it too much.

Honestly she could feel her lungs beginning to go out during the fight and so technically Will did her a favor when she stabbed Nerissa through the stomach just before the old Keeper could strike a fatal blow on the teen. Dying from the stomach wound was faster and less painful than the way her lungs had been killing her.

"What happened to Nerissa do you know? I know she vanished shortly after Cass….erm McLean's death but I hadn't heard anything else about her in years." Knickerbocker asked looking at Halinor who winced while Will flinched and shrunk in on herself as Taranee and Cassidy moved to support her.

"Nerissa is dead. She died some time ago." Halinor said her voice soft and she glanced at Will in worry.

 _ **"True but not true at the same time. Nicely done Hali."**_ Nerissa said not flinching at the mention of her own demise.

"I'm sorry to hear that. I know how close you five were. You five were joined at the hip. Where you went, they went and where one of you five was, the other four weren't far behind." Knickerbocker said smiling sadly at Halinor who looked away as did Cassidy while Will looked guilty as hell.

"It's not your fault and Rissy…she wasn't the same after what happened to Cassidy. She was no longer the Rissy I knew. No longer my sister in heart." Halinor said shaking her head sadly at how far her fellow guardian and once sister had fallen.

 _ **"Ouch. I deserved that."**_ Nerissa said with a wince at what Halinor had said while Will started feeling sick again. She was being reminded that the person she had killed had been someone's daughter, someone's sister, someone's friend…hell she was one of her _friends_ mother!

"Pardon me." Will said pushing past the others quickly as she dashed for the closest trash bin or toilet.

"I'll go check on her." Cassidy said immediately taking off after Will while Knickerbocker looked startled and alarmed at the sudden departure of the hazel eyed red head.

"What's wrong with Ms. Vandom?" Knickerbocker asked worried and confused.

"Nerissa…she died just a few days ago and that young lady Will? I…According to Yannie she was there when Nerissa…" Halinor trailed off making Knickerbocker look horrified.

"She saw Nerissa die. That explains why she's been so strange acting today." Knickerbocker said making Halinor nod slightly in agreement.

"Yes seeing death for the first time, especially with how Nerissa had died…Kathy Will was literally sitting in a pool of Nerissa's blood when we learned about what happened." Halinor said telling the truth but omitting certain parts of it.

"Is she okay enough mentally to come back to school?" Knickerbocker asked making Halinor sigh heavily.

"That's a…difficult question. Will is…from what Yannie tells me and what little time Kaddie had spent with her…She's a strong stubborn girl. She's… _functional_ right now. Right now I think school is just what she needs, something to keep her distracted until she finally comes to terms with what happened." Halinor said after thinking of it for a moment trying to make it sound like she knew the girl very little and only through the others. Which…was mostly true. She didn't get to spend a lot of time with the newer guardians before she had been enthralled.

"Anything I should keep an eye out for?" Knickerbocker asked concerned.

"She's likely to suffer flashbacks of what happened perhaps Survivors Guilt. You know the symptoms of that and what it can do to a person…just…if she starts getting really bad have Cassidy call me and let me know. Yannie has me working as Will's therapist due to my…well you know our history with this kind of thing and my degrees." Halinor said for once glad that she had gotten an associates degree in psychology despite how misogynist most of the class and school had been about that.

"Right. I'll keep an eye out and let the other teachers know that she had a traumatic experience and to keep a careful but distant eye on her. If she has your temper when it comes to people trying to keep an eye on her I don't want to get in her way." Knickerbocker said making Halinor smile sadly but thankfully.

She only said one thing though that had Knickerbocker snorting slightly at the look on Taranee's face.

"I said I was sorry for setting your hair on fire."


	4. Chapter 4

**MEGA W.I.T.C.H. AU**

 **By: FunahoMisaki**

 **(A/N: I own nothing and read last chapter)**

 **(A/N: Just so you're aware**

"Hey what's up?" – Normal talking

" _You okay?"_ – Telepathy or thoughts

" _ **I warned you."**_ – Nerissa.

 **Okay Authors Note over)**

For one week Will went about her normal non-guardian routine, barely registering her mom's surprise when she got an 80 on a test in History thanks to Nerissa's help.

For one week the teachers kept a close eye on the girl but maintained their distance. For one week Hay-Lin and Cornelia remained distant and a bit scared of Will while Taranee and Irma were with her every spare moment distracting her from what she had seen and done.

For one week Cassidy tailed Will around school and town, trying to get familiarized with it again with Halinor and Kadma tagging along around town.

For one week things almost seemed normal but that was never meant to last not with those five girls.

Tossing the remaining former guardians in the mix… well Nerissa was surprised that something didn't happen sooner really.

"Nobody move!" A man in a ski mask yelled as the girls were hanging out with the former guardians at the Silver Dragon, Irma nearly dying of laughter as Cassidy and Yan-lin told the girls the story of how Kadma had tried to impress Halinor only to fail epically as the blond giggled and Kadma retaliated with her own embarrassing stories of the two.

 _ **"Just one guy with a gun dealing with five current guardians and four formers? Is he stupid or suicidal?"**_ Nerissa asked amused more than anything as she looked at the gunman. The other four former guardians didn't skip a beat.

"So the next thing Kaddie did was try to show off how many Lurdens she could take down with one move." Yan-lin pointedly ignored the gunman as she continued telling the younger girls the tale, noting with smug approval that Will had finished half of her plate before the man busted into the Silver Dragon.

"Then it snowballed into a contest between those four about who could take down the most." Halinor said giving her older friends a pointed look while at least Yan-lin had the grace to look sheepish at that.

"Ladies I said don't move!" The gunman said looking at the old women in disbelief since four out of the six teenagers seemed tense while two were relaxed along with the three old women. Cassidy was as unphazed and mostly amused by the man as the older women, Will was just staring at him slightly amused at how Nerissa was mocking him without anyone else knowing.

"We're merely telling these young ladies a story from our youth. I didn't think young men these days were so rude as to interrupt and threaten their elders." Halinor said smoothly and looking at the gunman disappointed as if he should be ashamed of himself as she set her cup of tea down with a rather ominous clink noise.

"Give a young man a gun these days and he thinks he can do whatever he wants." Yan-lin said with a shake of her head as if she too were disappointed.

"What are you old ladies going to do about it?" The man demanded storming towards them angrily with the gun held tight in his hands.

"We're over sixty and have faced more fights and hardships in our lives than you ever will. We can do as we damn well please and no half grown _boy_ with a temper and a gun will scare us." Kadma said with a snort as she gave the man a disdainful look, using her best regal and haughty tone.

 _ **"**_ _ **Are you just going to let him get away with threatening them Will? Former Guardians or not they**_ **are** _ **old women who are being threatened.**_ " Nerissa pointed out making the protective guardian instincts inside of Will rear its head as the man stormed closer to them. Every Guardian had two sets of instincts, protective instincts and elemental instincts. Older former Guardians had the instinct to guide and nurture newer younger Guardians. The strength of those instincts depended on the strength of the Guardian and the Guardians bond with the Heart of Kandrakar.

Will was possibly one of the strongest Guardians Nerissa ever knew of aside from the originals, her bond with the Heart around her neck was stronger than Nerissa or Cassidy's had ever been, and right now. Those instincts were about to be pushed back into activation by this unwitting human threatening what Will deemed as _hers_.

"Take one step closer and I break your arm." Will hissed, suddenly on her feet in between the gunman and the Former Guardians who look as surprised as anyone else at her movements.

"Do you have a death wish girlie?" The man demanded staring at Will surprised while Taranee and Irma almost instantly stood up to give Will some back up just in case.

 _ **"I was supposed to make a wish?"**_ Nerissa asked in surprise making Will snort slightly. Well that was a bit morbid but yeah a bit funny.

"I've seen things a lot bigger, a lot meaner, and a hell of a lot _uglier_ than you. I'm not scared of you and I will not hesitate to hurt you if you try to hurt one of my friends." Will said making it look as if she were snorting at the gunman instead of at the words of the woman haunting her.

"Oh yeah and what if I try to hurt you?" The man sneered pouting the barrel of the gun right between Will's eyes. A woman nearby gasped in horror, the former Guardians stood up angrily, Irma and Taranee _growled_ and even Hay-Lin and Cornelia stood up glaring at the man. Nerissa was trying to slap the man since she couldn't zap him but she just passed through him harmlessly. Will hadn't even batted an eye as she stared him down unafraid.

 _ **"You little pussy ass prison bitch! If I weren't dead I'd show you my Keeper Super Strength!"**_ Nerissa was yelling too, giving Will a new arsenal of words to use and a useful tidbit of info. Super Strength? That…explained a _lot_ actually. __

"Even if you did take _me_ down… what's going to save you from _them_?" Will asked calmly as she raised an eyebrow at the man, nodding towards her friends who all looked ready to pounce on the man. Taranee had a tendril of smoke rising from her lips, Hay-lin's hair was beginning to move in a not yet existent breeze, the table they were at began rattling slightly and only Will and possibly the former guardians noticed the water in Irma's glass slowly rising up on its own.

Even without a Heart to fuel their powers, the formers were ready to unleash their powers and all the experience they had gained with them. The air around Cassidy was beginning to lower in temperature, Yan-lin was beginning to flicker in and out of view, Kadma's eyes were starting to glow green as the walls began to rattle softly, and Halinor's finger tips and hair were beginning to smoke.

"You little…" The man was near snarling as he went to pull the trigger. In an instant Will had gripped the gun barrel and _squeezed_ it with all her might. There was a crunching and screeching of metal as the barrel twisted and warped in Will's grasp just as the trigger was pulled, much to the gunman's shock.

"What the-" there was a small explosion that knocked Will and the gunman both to the floor as the gun seemed to explode from the bullet hitting the deformed barrel. Everyone ducked on reflex as the gun blew up, most of the shrapnel hitting the two closest to the gun. On reflex more than anything, Kadma had kicked the table onto its side to protect the others from any shrapnel but her and Halinor had been sitting at the end closest to the outside with Will between them. Not even thinking about her actions Kadma had grabbed Halinor and dived to the floor, covering the blondes body with her much taller one out of habit.

"Will!" Several voices cried as one lady screamed as they all looked up at the two that had been holding the gun when it was fired. They were all terrified out of their minds for one reason or another, they all had the explosion ringing in their ears, and they all were scrambling to find the young red head.

"Kadma secure the gunman. Yannie get some towels to stem the bleeding. Cassidy get some water to try and wash some of the blood away so we can see what we're dealing with. Please tell me someone's calling for an ambulance!" Halinor took charge as she worked past the ringing in her ears but also sent the orders telepathically, just in case, as she directed the others to do something to help while she scrambled up and over to check on Will.

Will was sprawled on the ground a bit in front of the table/shield with her hand that had been on the gun covered in blood and looking mangled, there was also some blood on her chest and shoulders and her face as well. Halinor could just barely see some shrapnel sticking out of the cuts on Will's shoulder and shirt which was torn and singed and the glints of metal from the damaged hand told Halinor all she needed to know about that.

"Okay that one hurt." Will said her voice a bit slurred but otherwise steady as she blinked her eyes open much to the shocked and still recovering normal peoples disbelief. Hell even the current Guardians were surprised that she was conscious.

 _ **"I'll fucking bet it did."**_ Nerissa said wide eyed and staring at the girl worried. She hadn't expected this. She hadn't seen this coming which meant that Will hadn't consciously decided to do that. The red head, her small heiress, had reacted on reflex and instinct. Her instincts had screamed at her to destroy the threat, to _protect_ …and damn if she hadn't followed them.

"Will? She's still conscious that's good." Halinor said glancing at the girl surprised but relieved as she glanced up at the others, seeing Taranee talking on the phone hopefully with paramedics. Hay-lin and Cornelia seemed shocked and horrified while Irma was glaring at the unconscious or even dead gunman as she spoke on her own phone. Hopefully it was the cops she was calling, Halinor was a bit too focused on Will right now to care.

"Will someone please pick up the phone? That ringing is getting annoying." Will said making Halinor give a small smile before she frowned as she noticed Will was having trouble focusing her gaze on anything or anyone as Yan-lin returned with towels. Cassidy and Yan-lins' son were carrying a few pots with water in them and Yan-lin's daughter-in-law was rushing over with a first aid kit.

 _ **"Damn kid you are probably the most insane teenager I've ever met, and I knew Cassidy and Kadma."**_ Nerissa said shaking her head as she tried to examine the injuries on the young red head. She could feel them faintly through her connection with Will which means that they must hurt like a _bitch_ but Will was either in shock or close to passing out.

"Looks like she has a concussion. She must have hit her head hard when she was knocked back." Halinor said as Taranee was relaying he information to the dispatcher over her cell phone. Police sirens were heard approaching as well as another set of sirens that Halinor hoped belonged to paramedics.

"Why am I seeing two Halinors?" Will asked trying to focus her gaze while Halinor tended to the bleeding cut on the girl's face with some water and a towel. Her touch was gentle and warmer than normal, signifying the flames she had controlled for over a decade, as the older woman gently removed what few shrapnel pieces she could without risking making things worse.

"This one will need stitches. Oh Will…what were you thinking?" Halinor asked softly, putting the cloth over the face wound to try and stem the bleeding and making Will look at her bleary but confused. Guardian…guardians protect.

"I'm…a guardian. I protect. Have…you forgotten?" Will asked her voice becoming raspy and unsteady, her words making Halinor stiffen slightly as old memories came to the forefront of her mind. She had been so taken in with the mostly peaceful Kandrakar duties that she had forgotten what it was like back in those days. The days where _she_ was the one going out and fighting the bad guys to protect everyone, the days where she had been prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice to ensure the others made it home safely.

The days where she was known as the Goddess of Fire for a _damn_ good reason.

"I suppose I have. Oh Will." Halinor said softly, sadly as she tried to tend to the rest of the girls wounds although she wasn't so sure about pulling out some of that shrapnel in the girls shoulder and chest.

A set of loud heavy footsteps had Halinor on the defensive, her eyes lighting aflame and her lips pulled back into a snarl as she crouched over Will protectively. She refused to let anyone else hurt this child! She had already been though too much!

 _ **"About time the medics showed up."**_ Nerissa said relaxing the stance she had automatically dropped into as well despite knowing that she couldn't touch anything or anyone aside from Will.

"It's the cops and the medics Fire Fly. They'll take good care of her." Kadma said gently touching Halinor's shoulder and calming the blond former pyrokinetic down enough that she didn't launch fire balls at the medics or just lunge for their throats with her teeth. Honestly with how strong Halinor's instincts were driving her at the moment, Kadma wouldn't put it past the blond. Of course her own instincts to help, defend, _protect,_ were making her more tense and terse than normal but she had experience as a Queen to help her reign them in… for a little while at least.

She'd probably be joining Halinor and the others in letting out their rage somewhere far, far from Heatherfield proper later. Idly Kadma wondered if Ironwood would let her have the Heart of Zambala back in order to use her powers to vent without using her life force.

"Hey Will. We're going to hand you over to the medics now alright? You need to get to the hospital to have those wounds looked over and we'll be along shortly." Kadma bent down to talk to the girl who was blinking slightly up at her, trying to move as if to sit up if it weren't for Halinor's gentle but steady hands pushing her back down to lay flat.

"Okay. Might wanna do…something about those clones though." Will said trying to focus on Kadma but there seemed to be three of her. Did she make an Astral Drop somehow? Didn't she give the Heart of Zambala to Ironwood? Why would she use her life force to make so many Astral Drops?

 _ **"You have a concussion kid, seems like it is pretty nasty with how you're seeing doubles and triples of everything."**_ Nerissa said causing Will to try and focus on the there but still _not there_ woman. Only now there seemed to be at least four of her as she hovered over Will, her own long forgotten and thought dead instincts screaming at her as Will was gently loaded onto a stretcher and rushed towards the ambulance. The gunman was already being rushed away in a second one with a police officer riding with him.

"They have room for at least one of you to ride in the ambulance if someone wants to go with her. We have more than enough people here who can tell us what happened." Officer Lair said looking at the group who all moved as if to follow Will only for them to pause and stare at each other when they realized that there was eight of them and only one open spot.

"Go ahead Fire Fly. We'll be along with the other girls in a little while." Kadma whispered as she gently nudged Halinor towards the doors while the others were glaring each other down ready to fight in order to ride with their friend and leader. Yan-lin and Cassidy were glaring down Cornelia and Taranee respectfully while Irma and Hay-lin were glaring each other down. Their powers were just starting to show again when Halinor made it to the ambulance and began to climb inside.

"Alright ma'am. Easy there." The medic said helping Halinor up into the back of the ambulance, breaking the others from their glare off in time to see the doors close as Halinor sat next to Will holding her un-damaged hand.

"You girls stay here until the Officer says we can leave then we'll all go visit Will at the hospital immediately after." Kadma said in a stern no-nonsense voice that had the girls shrinking in on themselves just a bit since the four younger ones moved towards the ambulance without conscious thought.

"Don't worry kiddos I'll drive us there myself." Yan-lin said calming down and making the I.T.C.H. girls look at each other wide eyed, each of them going a bit pale or green in the face.

"Do you still drive insane like you used to Yannie?" Cassidy asked grinning at the woman who gave her a frown. The answer was obvious due to the I.T.C.H. girls reactions but they needed _something_ to take their minds off of what happened and the condition Will had been in and Cassidy was the perfect one for the job.

"There is nothing wrong with my driving skills." Yan-lin said making Kadma snort slightly as the two older women realized what their red haired water user was doing.

"I'm sure Halinor, Katherine, and most of Fadden would disagree with you. Remember when we let you drive during that road trip to Miami?" Kadma asked smirking slightly and making Cassidy laugh while Yan-lin gave them both stink eyes.

"Last I heard the damage was three signs, barely missing four other cars, and didn't Nerissa throw up like six times before we switched drivers?" Cassidy asked grinning at Kadma who nodded her head.

"There's a reason why we only let you drive if we need a quick escape. You're the cook of the group, leave the driving to me or Fire Fly." Kadma said to her smaller friend who smacked her in the arm playfully.

"I just hope Will is gonna be okay. It looked like her hand was messed up something fierce." Cassidy said sighing and bringing their attention back to the reason why they were _actually_ contemplating letting Yan-lin drive. She wanted to distract them a little bit, not make them forget why they were still here. Although Cassidy was pretty sure that none of them would ever forget how Will had looked after the gun exploded right in her face, literally.

"She's with Halinor and that old hippie took a liking to her. Auramere or no auramere if anyone tried hurting Will with her around…third degree burns are the _least_ of their problems." Yan-lin said making the others snort at her calling Halinor an old hippie.

"You do remember that aside from the Water Demon, Fire Fly is the youngest of our group right? And if it hadn't been for…well you know, then even Red would be older than Hallie." Kadma asked raising an eyebrow at Yan-lin who shrugged.

"She's still old." Yan-lin said casually making Cassidy snort. Talk about the Pot calling the Kettle.

"Old and able to kick my ass even easier than before. I swear she spent more time learning martial arts from other worlds than reading books from other worlds." Cassidy said making the two older ones look at each other again. Honestly knowing Halinor? They really wouldn't doubt it.

While the younger generation seemed to think that she was an older and blond version of Taranee… Halinor was actually more like Irma and Cornelia. She had been the most physically active of them and the one to rebel the most.

 **%*-$*:_: With Halinor, Will, and Nerissa $# &_:$=**

"She's going to need some surgery but thankfully her hand seems to look worse than it actually is." One paramedic called to her partner as she easily worked around Halinor holding Will's undamaged hand to check the bloody one and get the girl on some pain medicine.

"Hear that Will? Looks like your hand will be alright after all." Halinor said gently to the girl, refraining from using telepathy because of the concussion. She had learnt her lesson on that from when Kadma had gotten a concussion protecting her and it had been worsened by the use of telepathy, although the proud Earth user hadn't said anything about it and seemed glad that she had protected Halinor from taking the damage.

"How did her hand get like this much less the rest of her?" The paramedic asked looking at Halinor who glanced at her but then returned her focus to Will's bleary eyes.

"She was protecting us. The gun blew up when the man tried to fire it, she got hit the worst since it had been pointed right at her head." Halinor said her eyes flashing darkly when she remembered the man threatening Will with the gun.

"Shrapnel is a funny thing. One of my uncles was in the military and he once told me a story about how when a grenade went off one guy right next to the blast didn't have a scratch on him, but someone who had been about a hundred yards away had taken a piece through the eye." The paramedic said before calling out over her radio the status of the girl and what medicine's that she was using to the doctors.

"I was a child through World War Two, about six years old when it ended. The others probably remember more since they were older than me, but I can definitely remember the bomber raids." Halinor said her voice lowering and becoming darker at that. Her parents had cowardly saved their own lives and hadn't thought to check and see if she or her older brother were in the shelter. If it hadn't been for Kadma grabbing her and pulling her to another bomb shelter, she would have died during her childhood. As it was she had lost her older brother to a bomber raid when he did not make it to the shelter in time.

 _ **"Yeah those were horrible. I never wanted to feel that weak again, that's why I wanted so much power and to stop all fighting. No one should have to experience that."**_ Nerissa said shaking her head sadly, she remembered all too well what they had been like. Her father had died as a soldier and her mother had been killed in a bomber raid, possibly even the same one that stole away Halinor's brother.

She had been left as one of the many orphans of war and probably would have been left for dead in the system if it hadn't been for Cassidy's family immediately taking her in.

"The shrapnel in her shoulder and chest, I didn't want to remove it just in case but should it really stay inside of her for this long?" Halinor asked changing the subject and wincing as she looked at the metal sticking out of the young red head.

"We'll have to leave it for at the hospital. We don't want to risk taking something out that could be stopping her from bleeding to death. It's a miracle she's still conscious as it is." The medic said looking over the shrapnel and wincing as she saw all the smaller metal pieces as well.

"I can already tell that the one on her cheek will need stitches. How likely is it that it will scar?" Halinor asked looking at Will's face where the towel had been replaced by a blood stained bandage that was mostly hiding the deep cut that went from the side of the girls neck up to her temple. Halinor knew that head wounds generally looked worse than they really were but she really doubted that the damage was superficial.

"Very likely I'm afraid. That will be tough on her self-confidence." The medic winced as she also checked out the damage done to the girls face, it wasn't a straight line in fact it seemed rather jagged so it was likely to leave a rather nasty scar.

"Scars are like tattoo's with better stories because they tell that you survived." Halinor said wisely, one hand reaching towards her chest where she had a few scars from when she was Guardian and had been tortured for information. She hadn't told them what they wanted to know though. No matter what damage they had done to her body she hadn't told them what they wanted to know.

"Are you her grandmother ma'am?" The medic asked smiling slightly at how much the blond elderly woman obviously cared for the young red haired girl who was likely to be hailed as a hero for taking down the gunman.

"No I'm afraid not. I'm just…" Halinor trailed off when Will squeezed her hand with more strength than she thought the girl had at the moment. Granted it was barely enough to make the woman wince but it was certainly enough for Halinor to know that Will could hear her.

"Closest…one…I have…. To…a…grandma…" Will rasped out as the medic looked surprised at hearing the girl speak.

"Easy there kid don't talk. Save your strength and it looks like that some of the shrapnel hit your lungs. Here." The medic said smiling although she was surprised as she quickly put an oxygen mask over the girls face. Will's mahogany eyes met Halinor's cerulean ones as the old woman stared at her surprised and touched.

The last thing Will heard before finally blacking out was Nerissa's dryly stated words.

 _ **"Congrats Will you're now being adopted.**_ "


End file.
